Month: December 2016

I miss being able to adjust the speed of the phone’s animations. The iPhone might present its interface in a fancy, elegant way, but after a week or so they often felt like intentional delays to hide the phone’s inability to keep up with my mind. I would like Android’s ability to adjust the animation speed (after turning on Developer Options).

I miss the ability to change my launcher. To be able to position my most frequently used apps on the main screen and keep the rest stashed in the app drawer. It’s the equivalent of stowing away your less frequently used junk away in the cupboard, instead of needing to spread them over a long, wide springboard.

Material Design. Photo credit: material.io

I miss Material Design. A consistent language in user interface creates a unified, pleasing experience on the smartphone, the one device that the average person checks 54 times a day. A streamlined and standardized user experience that reduces the time required to learn how to use new apps. An enriching feeling that you are part of a huge ecosystem.

I miss the seamless integration of Google Services into the operating system, and its better implementation of its core apps on Android. Hangouts suck on the iPhone with its non-responsive buttons. Google’s one-touch sign in did not require me to switch apps on Android. Rapid backups and processing of my photos on Google’s photos app.

Photo credit: techrepublic

I miss OK Google. The entire process of using my voice to create reminders, do searches, launch apps and call an acquaintance is much better implemented in Android. Siri’s voice recognition is lackluster, especially in noisy environments where it thinks the ambient noise is my voice. And honestly, Google’s calendar and notes implementation trumps the folks at Cupertino, especially if you don’t own everything Apple. (For the record, I am using a MacBook and an Apple Watch.)

I miss how I can launch customized apps from one another to share rich data, instead of being limited to a standardized small scale data sharing implementation. Launching Pocket to save an article from Feedly. Using the actual WhatsApp app to share a screenshot instead of a half-baked, restricted interface. Being able to actually choose which browser I want to use, which is not Safari.

I miss Android.

This is purely an opinion from a user who’s very comfortable with Android and Google, and any suggestions to improve the experience on iOS are welcome.